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Creativity fostering economic growth in Indonesia

CCTV.com

03-24-2017 14:00 BJT

Full coverage: 2017 Boao Forum

(Source: CGTN)

Indonesia’s e-commerce and online market is growing faster than ever. President Joko Widodo has a vision to make Indonesia the digital energy of Asia. And since he took office, he has been providing support to young entrepreneurs to accelerate innovation in a bid to push Indonesia towards becoming the biggest digital economy in Southeast Asia.

Cynthia Tenggara says she has always been fascinated with food and technology. Those interests led her to create Berry Kitchen, an online meal-delivery service in Indonesia. Berry Kitchen is the first food e-commerce company in the country. It has catered to more than 15,000 customers since it launched in 2012.

"It took a while for us to educate the market. There were no food e-commerce companies back then. It took a lot of time to gain the trust of our consumers," Tenggara said.

Indonesia has the potential to become the biggest digital economy industry in Southeast Asia. Internet users are growing rapidly in the country and it is expected to reach more than 200 million people before 2020.

Indonesia has established itself as one of Asia’s mobile-first nations. Experts say Indonesia’s current e-commerce market is similar to China’s beginnings. In Indonesia, hundreds of young entrepreneurs are flooding the industry, creating an online revolution that is further expanding the market and attracting huge numbers of foreign investors.

"Indonesia presents much opportunity for e-commerce among other emerging markets. However, we expect to see e-commerce in Indonesia becoming more intensified, in which fewer players will serve the market and with that intense competition we will see growth outside of Jakarta," Senior market analyst Reza Haryo said.

E-commerce transactions in the country are already at an all-time high. In the next decade, economists are predicting the country’s e-commerce industry could reach nearly 100 billion US Dollars.

"I hope Indonesia's infrastructure, logistics and payment systems can improve in the future. I hope the government will also come up with proper set of rules to further support companies like ours," Tenggara said.

President Joko Widodo’s digital ambition for Indonesia aims to fuel start-ups like Berry Kitchen and it’s entrepreneurs like Cynthia that are currently fostering economic growth in the country.

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